Home of the Free and the Brave

I'm telling you now "DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ MY
OPINIONS!" I'm not asking for your approval and I'm not seeking arguments
from you. I just want to let out some of my feelings.


I feel very frustrated by the whole discussion about the Obama health care plan. So many of the middle and upper class people are angry and are opposed to socializing health care. My boss is massively opposed to it and extremely vocal about his opposition. Many of my facebook friends and my family are just as vocal about their disagreement with Obama's desire to insure that all have access to health care. MY concern is how many people can't afford insurance and don't qualify for Medicaid. What do we do about the older folks who have to pay some things out of pocket even though they qualify for Medicare or when Medicare/Medicaid refuses to pay for certain meds because they are too expensive, but they are the meds that work for you?


My friend Michael Chaney had a pretty heated discussion with his friends on facebook. He made an argument that really got to the crux of the matter. Michael said, about Peter Kinnear who is CEO for FMC Technologies and who has been vocally opposed to socialized health care: "This CEO took home 725 times the amount of an average paid employee! I guess he can afford to oppose health care for the working class!" The arguments to Obama's plan have mostly come from those who don't need it and either have insurance through their work and/or can afford to pay for their own insurance.

Here is my problem: I hate confrontation, especially about political issues. I have my opinion and you are not going to change my mind. AND I figure that you have your opinions and I am probably not going to change them. Political discussion is very rarely a true exchange of thoughts. To me it feels more like an attempt to convince the other person that s/he is "wrong." So when people express their beliefs on Obama's desire to create a health care system for all, they don't really want to hear or understand why I think differently, just like they don't want to hear other ways that I think or feel otherwise from them.

One argument that really started me writing this piece was that Obama was being racist for trying to get health care for people who can't afford it. His opponents argue that Obama is racist because most of the people who need the help are people of color. Okay... so when W promoted tax cuts for the wealthy, no one cried, "Racist." I don't remember anyone saying racist when Reagan also cut taxes for the upper class. No one called Clinton racist because he expanded the death penalty for drug kingpins, murderers of federal law enforcement officers, and nearly 60 additional categories of violent felons. When I hear someone trying to complain about Obama being racist, I hear them saying that really they are threatened by the fact that he is a man of color and is now in a place to make changes that help all people.


Why did I decide to express my opinion now? I finally voted on the FB poll about health care. I did it because I got tired of having to listen to everyone else's opinions. I felt like my silence said that I agreed with those people who were expressing their beliefs. I also noticed that after I voted my facebook friends who saw my vote started posting their opposing views. They have a right to feel that way just as I have the same right.


On the actual issue of health care, I spend over $150 a month on my health insurance and that's after my school district has chipped in its share. I could have chosen a cheaper option. I have to have this extensive coverage because I have a number of health issues. In addition to the amount I pay for my insurance, the amount I pay for my monthly out of pocket expenses for medication is over $200. If I get sick, I will shell out at least an additional $50 to $60. AND I thank God every day that I can now afford this amount of money. During my early teaching years, I had to make choices about what bills I would pay so that I could get my meds. At times I also made choices about what medicines I absolutely had to have and which ones if I didn't take, I wouldn't die or seriously damage myself.


I truly don't know if socialized medicine is the way to go. I do know that if I as a single woman with no children struggles, how do others make it? Do I say to the mom with two kids and a dumb ass ex-husband who can't be bothered, "Sorry your children have to do without"? Do I ignore the friend who goes to the county hospital and can only afford treatment by claiming to be indigent because he doesn't qualify for disability or Medicaid yet? I don't know if I could live with myself if I didn't support health care for these people. Is this going to change my coverage? I don't know. But we, as a country, have to start doing something about the distribution of resources. We have made it almost impossible for some people to ever thrive and we proudly stand there and say that we are the land of the free and the brave. I truly want to be brave and maybe my first step toward that is expressing this opinion even though it differs from most of my friends and family